Need help on diamond return

[feelingdumb]

Hi all,

I recently had an engagement ring made, and now the engagement is off and I am trying to return the ring to the vendor.

Let me give you the background:

1. Seller is friend of close family friend from respectable diamond company
2. Stone purchased without seeing it.
3. No contract signed. Seller said if it wasn''t right, he would make do, and that in the diamond business, his word is everything.
4. Band was custom made.
5. Ring was never worn.
6. After I asked to return the ring, seller says no way and that:
a. sale was final and I KNEW it was a final sale;
b. claims he already restocked the stone and now has no need for another in inventory (1.5+ D VS1)
c. has offered to try to resell for me but refuses to take back at least the diamond and setting and give me what I paid.

I am off-base to expect the seller to make good here?

For those in the business I would appreciate your insights and suggestions.

 

[Patty]

I''m not in the business but I am wondering how much time has gone by? When did you buy the ring?

I know that you have nothing in writing, but does he have his store policy for returns on the receipt or anywhere?

 

[EdSkinner]

He was obligated to fix the ring if anything was wrong. Since the ring was not defective he has no obligation to do anything. He already paid for a custom mounting that he is not going to be able to get any refund on. If he didn''t own the stone in the first place and had it on memo he may not be able to return the stone to his supplier. But if he had any hopes of every doing business with you again I would think that he would try to help you out in some way. Another sad story about somebody else who has a friend in the business. About your only recourse is to sell it privately. If you sell it back into the trade you won''t get close to the orginal price. Iam sure others will have other ideas that won''t be as pessimistic as my solution. Good luck

 

[WinkHPD]

I think it would depend on the time frame. Many internet vendors have a ten to thirty day return period, after which the sale is cast in stone.

This vendor told you sure, bring it back if it is not right, so if it was a day or two, then he must honor his word. If it is more than two weeks with no comment from you then he was totally justified in assuming that you liked it and going on with his life, which includes replacing the diamond in his stock. (Although if last year was any indication, I would think he would be happy to have anotherD-VS1 in stock of that size, since they had great appreciation through the year.) Please give us more data so that we can give you better feed back.

Wink

 

[jpinsly]

delete

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 12/20/2005 3:18:38 PM
Author:feelingdumb

1. Seller is friend of close family friend from respectable diamond company
2. Stone purchased without seeing it.
3. No contract signed. Seller said if it wasn''t right, he would make do, and that in the diamond business, his word is everything.
4. Band was custom made.
5. Ring was never worn.
6. After I asked to return the ring, seller says no way and that:
a. sale was final and I KNEW it was a final sale;
b. claims he already restocked the stone and now has no need for another in inventory (1.5+ D VS1)
c. has offered to try to resell for me but refuses to take back at least the diamond and setting and give me what I paid.

I am off-base to expect the seller to make good here?

For those in the business I would appreciate your insights and suggestions.

I''m not in the business, but yes, I think you''re off-base.

It is up to you to know the terms of sale. Most storefront jewelers will exchange (hence his promise to ''make good''), but not refund. The PS vendors are a bit different because they are online vendors, so they allow more latitude for return than most storefront vendors will.

This is compounded by the fact that you had custom work done. In nearly all cases, custom work is not refundable.

As far as other points (seller is close friend of family; diamond bought unseen, diamond never worn), those are irrelevant to the sale. These factors don''t somehow make the seller obligated to bear the consequences of your unfortunate circumstances.

I''m sorry for your disappointment.

 

[decodelighted]

Maybe more vendors can weigh in but engagement rings are such a tricky purchase, I thought most jewelry stores, vendors etc allow a set "return" period in case the proposal is turned down. 30 days might be stardard-ish? Am I completely wrong?

If the engagement breaks up later, obviously that would not apply ... but isn''t there SOME grace period? Only if the ring is not "custom"? On the STONE at least?

If your jeweler won''t outright "return" the ring - maybe you can work out a consignment arrangement. I''m sorry for your current circumstances & hope the new year brings you healing, new love & much happiness!

 

[pebbles]

Date: 12/20/2005 4:42:26 PM
Author: decodelighted
Maybe more vendors can weigh in but engagement rings are such a tricky purchase, I thought most jewelry stores, vendors etc allow a set ''return'' period in case the proposal is turned down. 30 days might be stardard-ish? Am I completely wrong?

If the engagement breaks up later, obviously that would not apply ... but isn''t there SOME grace period? Only if the ring is not ''custom''? On the STONE at least?

If your jeweler won''t outright ''return'' the ring - maybe you can work out a consignment arrangement. I''m sorry for your current circumstances & hope the new year brings you healing, new love & much happiness!

I''m obviously not a vendor, but Whiteflash, for example, has a 1 year buy back option for the diamond, however, you only get back 70% of your money back.

One of my husband''s friends went through a similar situation. He totally lost out on the custom setting but was able to get a store credit from the B&M store he bought the ring from for the stone. He used that credit when he got engaged a few years later.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 12/20/2005 3:18:38 PM
Author:feelingdumb
2. Stone purchased without seeing it.
4. Band was custom made.

Could you explain a little more about what happened here. I find it very unusual that you''d pick a stone sight unseen yet order a "custom" setting. It makes me suspicious as to whether the setting was "custom" at all -- or whether the seller is just claiming it is in order to make it less refundable.

More info would definately help!

 

[feelingdumb]

From the time I received the ring until I called to tell the vender I wanted to return it was no more than 10 days.

No paperwork from the vendor says anything about final sale, limited return time, etc. Nothing at all about ANY return policy, or lack of return policy.

I wanted to get a Ritani endless love band with pave stones. Seller doesn't deal with Ritani so he made me a band that looked like it. So the band was custom made.

Since the band is custom, I just want the vendor to take back, at least, the stone and setting. I'll eat the band if necessary.

I knew exactly what the setting was going to look like, and the stone was promised to be great, plus it had GIA papers.

I just don't have a need for the ring anymore.....obviously since there is no longer any plan for an engagement....


Can the diamonds in the pave band be salvaged? I think it was about 40-50 points worth of stones.

 

[decodelighted]

Why rip the stones out of the setting? Ritini endless love is VERY popular right now and would probably be easier re-sold as is. The work done setting the stones is more expensive than the stones themselves at that size IMHO. I''d try to re-sell on consignment - but insist on being able to contact the buyer at the end of the transation to verify what he/she did pay. I don''t trust that "family friend" - just an instinct, not based on any fact or knowledge. Bad vibes. Sounds like you feel tricked too -- (no contract, telling you you knew if was "Final Sale" when you seem not to have known, all the "my word/my honor" talk - bleh)

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 12/20/2005 5:04:03 PM
Author: feelingdumb
From the time I received the ring until I called to tell the vender I wanted to return it was no more than 10 days.


No paperwork from the vendor says anything about final sale, limited return time, etc. Nothing at all about ANY return policy, or lack of return policy.

I dunno .. with THAT info I might call a lawyer. The SELLER is ALSO oblidged to spell out his terms if he wants you to live with them.

Also - I may have misunderstood. The SETTING for the 1.5 ct stone was NOT CUSTOM. Is that right? Only the WEDDING BAND itself was a custom Ritini knock-off? That does make a difference. I''d think he should allow return of the stone & setting within 10 days & allow consignment on the wedding band. But I''m not a vendor (much less a pi**y, sketchy, unhelpful one).

 

[feelingdumb]

Yes, setting was not custom. Band was a knock-off.

The good news about all of this is that I paid for everything on American Express and have contacted them.
They have put a freeze on the purchase until this can be resolved one way or the other.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 12/20/2005 5:35:05 PM
Author: feelingdumb
Yes, setting was not custom. Band was a knock-off.


The good news about all of this is that I paid for everything on American Express and have contacted them.

They have put a freeze on the purchase until this can be resolved one way or the other.

Smart move at the start. Smart move now. Hopefully it can be resolved to everyone''s satisfaction.

 

[Hest88]

As far as other points (seller is close friend of family; diamond bought unseen, diamond never worn), those are irrelevant to the sale. These factors don''t somehow make the seller obligated to bear the consequences of your unfortunate circumstances.

I think the poster has little recourse given the facts, but I disagree that the seller being a close friend of a close friend is irrelevant to the sale. The seller assumed that because of the relationship the buyer would trust his word, and the buyer assumed that because of the relationship the seller''s word was trustworthy. This is one of the reasons why I make it a point to never do business with people I know; when things go awry it''s so much harder to rectify the issue.

Feelingdumb, I hope the jeweler does the fair thing, which, in my mind, is to take back the stone and the ring. Since the band is custom, I do think it would be asking too much to ask him to take it back, but if he''s a good guy maybe he''ll be willing to help you sell it on consignment.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 12/20/2005 6:46:27 PM
Author: Hest88

As far as other points (seller is close friend of family; diamond bought unseen, diamond never worn), those are irrelevant to the sale. These factors don''t somehow make the seller obligated to bear the consequences of your unfortunate circumstances.

I think the poster has little recourse given the facts, but I disagree that the seller being a close friend of a close friend is irrelevant to the sale. The seller assumed that because of the relationship the buyer would trust his word, and the buyer assumed that because of the relationship the seller''s word was trustworthy. This is one of the reasons why I make it a point to never do business with people I know; when things go awry it''s so much harder to rectify the issue.

Feelingdumb, I hope the jeweler does the fair thing, which, in my mind, is to take back the stone and the ring. Since the band is custom, I do think it would be asking too much to ask him to take it back, but if he''s a good guy maybe he''ll be willing to help you sell it on consignment.

agree.

 

[Regular Guy]

I''m certainly sympathetic.

Date: 12/20/2005 3:18:38 PM
Author:feelingdumb

3. Seller said if it wasn''t right, he would make do,

Is it somewhat clear to you what the seller meant by this? Was it clearly inclusive of return, in your mind, or could the intention have been to alter to another option as the recourse.

If former, stick by your guns. If latter, you may want to make the best of this. Just my guess. Now that Amex is involved, they most certainly will have a procedure to follow. You still may want to think about what was the substance of your agreement with the seller...and what you agreed to with them. Did they do an about face or not?